Monthly Archives: August 2013

IRS secretly used DEA surveillance database to launch investigations

"Details of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration program that feeds tips to federal agents and then instructs them to alter the investigative trail were published in a manual used by agents of the Internal Revenue Service for two years. The practice of recreating the investigative trail, highly criticized by former prosecutors and defense lawyers after Reuters reported it this week, is now under review by the Justice Department. An IRS spokesman had no comment on the entry or on why it was removed from the manual. Reuters recovered the previous editions from the archives of the Westlaw legal database." Continue reading →

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Texas man sues GOP lawmaker and husband over months of workplace Tasings

"A 45-year-old Texas man is suing a Republican state lawmaker and her husband over what he calls months of attacks with a Taser while working for them that left him paranoid in his private life. 'I was constantly looking behind my shoulder, distracted, couldn’t sleep,' Bradley Jones told KHOU-TV. 'I would even look behind my shower curtain at home.' KHOU reported on Tuesday that Jones has filed a civil suit against state Rep. Patricia Harless (R) and her husband, Sam Harless. The couple owns Fred Fincher Motors, where Jones has worked since 2009." Continue reading →

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U.S. government tried to aggressively punish ‘leaker’ journalist in World War II

"The U.S. government attempted to aggressively prosecute a journalist who revealed early in World War II that American intelligence agencies had cracked the Japanese military’s secret code language. According to the Wall Street Journal, recently disclosed Justice Department documents show that government prosecutors contemplated not only punishing the reporter who wrote the story, but staff and editors at the newspaper that printed it, too. It is worth noting that the Tribune at that juncture was published by interests unfriendly to the Roosevelt administration. A grand jury dismissed all charges against Johnston." Continue reading →

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Unhappy With U.S. Foreign Policy? Pentagon Says You Might Be A ‘High Threat’

"Watch out for 'Hema.' A security training test created by a Defense Department agency warns federal workers that they should consider the hypothetical Indian-American woman a 'high threat' because she frequently visits family abroad, has money troubles and 'speaks openly of unhappiness with U.S. foreign policy.' That slide, from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), is a startling demonstration of the Obama administration's obsession with leakers and other 'insider threats.' One goal of its broader 'Insider Threat' program is to stop the next Bradley Manning or Edward Snowden from spilling classified or sensitive information." Continue reading →

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Marijuana stops child’s severe seizures

"The marijuana strain Charlotte and now 41 other patients use to ease painful symptoms of diseases such as epilepsy and cancer has been named after her. It's called Charlotte's Web. 'I didn't hear her laugh for six months,' Paige said. 'I didn't hear her voice at all, just her crying. I can't imagine that I would be watching her making these gains that she's making, doing the things that she's doing (without the medical marijuana). I don't take it for granted. Every day is a blessing.' Matt added, 'I want to scream it from the rooftops. I want other people, other parents, to know that this is a viable option.'" Continue reading →

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Anaheim & the Feds Use Civil Forfeiture to Subvert State Law

"When IJ client Tony Jalali fled Iran in 1978, he came to America seeking protection of the rule of law, due process, and justice. He never would have imagined that 35 years later he would be battling in federal court to save the small Anaheim, Calif., office building that represents his family’s life savings. Although Tony has never been charged with any crime, the federal government is attempting to use civil forfeiture to take his entire $1.5 million commercial building merely because he used to rent office space to a medical marijuana dispensary that was entirely legal under state law." Continue reading →

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Poolfa.com: Evidence of an Expanding Iranian Bitcoin Community

"As Bitcoin has proven to be an asset to Iranians whose rial is suffering from high inflation and an oppressive government, it will be interesting to see how successful additional alternative cryptocurrencies fare in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Through serving the Iranian people as a news blog, forum, wiki page, pool for mining, exchange and translation service, Poolfa is in turn contributing to the Bitcoin community as a whole. With an expanded and empowered user base, Bitcoin will continue to grow in prominence in Iran, the Middle East, and the rest of the world." Continue reading →

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BitPay Partners with 3dcart, Giving 16,000 Online Merchants the Ability to Accept Bitcoin

"In a strategic move that could more than double the number of bitcoin merchants on its roster, BitPay has announced a partnership with 3dcart, a well-established eCommerce platform for online store owners. The partnership gives some major online merchants – including Bubba Gump Shrimp, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and The New York Times – the option (not obligation) to enable bitcoin payments directly through 3dcart back-end tools. BitPay gives merchants the option to accept bitcoin payments and instantly convert all, some, or none of the bitcoins into a bank deposit that clears in one business day." Continue reading →

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Coinlab to incubate Bitcoin startups

"Venture-backed Bitcoin exchange CoinLab has announced it will start to incubate new Bitcoin businesses, starting with enterprise-scale mining company Alydian. CoinLab won't be providing any capital or mentoring to existing businesses. Instead it will come up with new ideas for businesses internally, and recruit external management talent to develop the ideas. The first portfolio company CoinLab is launching is Alydian, which is the first company to offer 'multi-terahash-speed' mining systems. CoinLab has recruited former Pixelworks CEO Hans Olsen to head up the business." Continue reading →

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Civil Unrest Coming to America

"The 'start-up job rate' in our country – the number of jobs in newly created American companies – has fallen during the Obama administration to 7.8 per 1,000 people, a 31% decline from the first President Bush. Those missing jobs and the resulting impact on unemployed youth are the kindling that ignites fiery riots. When our unemployed youth reach the point where they perceive that they have little left to lose, well it will be London and Stockholm and Athens all over America. That’s a when, not an if. The question I wonder is how America will react. Will the riots be enough to change the stupor in Washington?" Continue reading →

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